Having fun with letters - Marion Deuchars

Who can be famous in art only because of hand writing? She can! The award-winning and internationally beloved Marion Deuchars is a lady who's definitely old-fashioned with her way of creating art.

When I first looked at Deuchars' handwritten letters, I felt it's similar to
Wanying's way of lettering. So maybe that was the reason which kept me curious about the illustrator. Later on I found Marion is somewhat a must-know figure in the UK art field.

Marion (MA, RCA): brief resume and a demo of her hand lettering. She could have created Marion Deuchar's font, and I'm sure crowds will love it! 

Wanying' hand lettering. Aren't they a bit similar? 

Marion never draws directly or completely on computers. She's the kind of artist who indulges in the moment of creating with hands and loves the spontaneous boldness in her untrimmed letters.

Marion in her cave

Actually, Marion's works are everywhere. Marion's did covers for Penguin Books, Jamie Oliver's cookbooks (below 3) and many more high profile clients such as the Royal Mail, The Guardian, D&AD, adidas, MARKS & SPENCER and so on. In the unpretentious letters, viewers feel that the dynamically-written text is done by a cheerful hand and with an enthusiastic, upbeat spirit. Marion is consistent with her style, but play with it when she presents works on different media.

# View from the exterior of CASS ART LONDON, by Marion Deuchars

# Laid-back, clumsy but optimistic feeling (cover of Jamie's book)

# From Jamie Oliver's cookbook, random writing on a post-it

When presenting art on Royal Mail's stamps (below), Marion blended her expertise in graphic design and printing, taking on a redesign for Shakespeare's black-and-white theatre shots and turning them into mini works of art. If I were still in Edinburgh now, next thing I'd do is popping down to the post office near the Royal Mail!

# Limited edition to celebrate Royal Shakespeare Company's 50th anniversary

But among all, what I love the best is the book authored by Marion herself: "Let's Make Some Great Art." And we have this book at home! It's an interactive art book that invites art-lovers, amateurs, kids and parents to respond to the interactive art activities and draw freely. All readers have to do is follow its step by step demonstration and DARE TO IMAGINE. Thanks to Marion, now the art and the so-called artistic gift are not reserved for the few. That means, an beginner to art like me may take it as a friendly textbook and with some techniques learned, I can draw something just to entertain myself.

Now, first thing first: prepare all the materials needed. The book kicks off by listing some of the most commonly used painting tools (below 2), saving drawers troubles to run to stationer when they suddenly found out: "Oh no, I think I need that flat brush, and some watercolour tubes as well."

The book is systemised by introducing twelve renowned artists as if they served as different chapters in the book. By doing it this way, Marion cleverly catches the teaching moments. She leads and teaches every artist's key drawing techniques; more meaningfully, she gives history review on each artists' influence to their times. The twelve great artists on the list include Leonardo Da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Van Gogh, Matisse, Jackson Pollock, Bridget Riley ect.  

If you consider yourself being no good at drawing SIMPLY BECAUSE you can't draw a face, how about doing it Marion's way? It looks awfully simple!

The book contains many basic drawing methods, but they are indeed fundamental elements to mastering art. For example, it's essential to know how to use pencils drawing out different light levels (below 1), and wherever there's light, there comes shade (below 2).

 

With such basics picked up already, now there are more fun exercises to experiment on your originality! Would you be able to make good use of the grid, and make some colourful letters in varied forms?

No one said that you can't become a comic artist. Maybe today is the day!

And this one could turn out to be a psychological test?!

Never underestimate your hands when they can do more than you think.

In the world of art today, you don't need to be a scholar or with 20 years brillant experiences to be famous. Knowing the basic drawing rules, applying it with innovative approach like no one has ever done it before, and bang(!), you may luckily secure a place.

When we sigh about the youths today lack of artistic potential and parents try their hardest to boost creativity in children, maybe something we need is materials to permit ultimate freedom. If you happen to seek for an interactive artbook like that, Marion Deuchars can be your mentor and her "Let's Make Some Great Art" is the right pick.

How to draw a simple bird from Marion Deuchars on Vimeo.